Domestic Violence and Child Protection: Directions for Good Practice

How do you respond simultaneously to the needs of adults experiencing domestic violence and the specific needs of their children? Domestic Violence and Child Protection explores the challenges of working effectively in this complex field and offers positive models for practice.

Leading practitioners and researchers outline the essential safety considerations for children, adult victims and child protection workers, and stress the importance of children's experiences, using children's own words to describe their diverse needs. The contributors offer examples of good practice in prevention, intervention and recovery, drawn from international settings. They highlight new directions for policy and practice, and consider whether these might be achieved through increased communication and coordination between agencies, or by developing multiprofessional agencies that are able to offer integrated responses. Individual chapters address child abduction, legal issues concerning child contact arrangements, and dealing with abuse in the context of divorce.

Including perspectives from social services, health services and the voluntary sector, this book is a valuable source of information and ideas on how to work safely and sensitively with children living with domestic violence and will be a key reference for social workers, health professionals and policy makers.

Lorraine Radford is Head of Research at the NSPCC in London.

Kate Iwi is Young People's Services Officer for RESPECT, UK. As well as working with perpetrators of domestic violence both individually and in groups, Kate has facilitated fathering groups, linked women's support groups and undertaken therapeutic work with children.

Cathy Humphreys is a senior lecturer in Health and Social Work at the University of Warwick. She has worked as a practitioner, researcher and educator in domestic violence and child abuse. Catherine's other research areas include substance misuse, mental health, outreach and advocacy services for both women and children, and child contact.